Nanki Shirahama Area南紀白浜エリア
Wakayama和歌山県
Large leisure spot facing the Pacific Ocean. "Senjo-jiki," huge multi-tiered rock that looks like a thousand "tatami" mats.
Nanki, a generic name for the entire southwestern part of Wakayama, is a large spot of leisure containing various amusement facilities, beaches and places where you can enjoy marine sports, golfing and tennis. Shirahama-cho, a center town of Nanki, is a typical hot-spring resort facing the Pacific Ocean in the Kii-hanto Peninsula and is known as one of Japan's three largest spas together with Beppu in Oita and Atami in Shizuoka.
Collectively called the Shirahama-onsen Hot Springs comprises the Yuzaki-onsen Hot Spring, long known for open-air bathing in manually hollowed rock tubs and other hot springs at Shirahama opened early in the 20th century, Higashi-Shirahama, Tsunashirazu and others.
In and around Shirahama are many places of natural beauty visited by a large number of tourists throughout the year, such as Engetsu-jima Island, an uninhabited rock isle with a round sea cave open in the middle of it, and Sandan-beki (three-tiered wall) with 50 to 60-meter-high precipitous rock walls extending about 2 kilometers from south to north. Another must-see is Senjo-jiki, a huge multi-tiered rock that looks like a thousand "tatami" matted (senjo-jiki) floor created by the erosion of soft sandstone by raging waves.
Directions
From Osaka :
[Rail] 1h 36 min from Kansai Airport changing trains at Hineno (13 min from the airport) to Shirahama Station by JR Line "Kuroshio" (limited-stop express).
From Tokyo :
[Rail] An hour and 5 minutes to Nanki-Shirahama Airport from Tokyo Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Twenty-five minutes from Nanki-Shirahama Airport to Shirahama Station by bus. Two hours and 30 minutes to Shin-Osaka Station from Tokyo Station by JR Tokaido Shinkansen Line. Two hours and 15 minutes from Shin-Osaka Station to Shirahama Station by JR Kisei Honsen Line.
